[:en]English is not just a Language, It’s a Mindset[:ja]英語はただの言語ではなく、ものの見方である[:]
[:en] Many Japanese companies, and not just foreign companies, are pushing their employees to improve English–some more than others. Many people struggle with the grammar, pronunciation and endless nuances of vocabulary, and wonder why they must suffer through this even though their current job involves little or no direct interaction with people who speak the language. They may be missing the point. Learning language is just as much about changing mindset as learning the functional aspects of communication.
[:en]Why doesn’t my leadership team bring new ideas to me? The “wa” of Confrontation[:ja]対立においての和[:]
[:en] CEOs often ask me this question, as most would like their team to propose ideas and alternatives to them.In Japanese culture, proposing an idea can be viewed as suggesting you know better than your boss, and that you disagree with his or her point of view. At best this can be interpreted as impertinence, at worst as insubordination.
[:en]The Fallacy of Monetary Incentives[:ja]金銭によるインセンティブに効果がない理由[:]
[:en] Most leaders view monetary incentives as the most important driver of performance, whereas most employees view it as the least important. Monetary incentives reduce performance to an economic transaction—an offer for a price—which he or she may accept or walk away from.
[:en]Stop focusing on the yen exchange rate! Your best hedge is innovation![:ja]為替ばかり気にするのはやめ、イノベーションによるリスク回避に努めましょう[:]
[:en] Many business executives are fretting about the weakening, and a lot of them were present at a yen forecast briefing I attended yesterday. Lots of charts and graphs, elaborate assumptions, and caveats. In the end, it boils down to the yen could up, or then again it could go down.
[:en]Much ado about Piketty[:ja]ピケティ騒動[:]
[:en]Thomas Piketty, French economist, and intellectuel célèbre, was recently in Japan to speak about his much talked about book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty is on record supporting most aspects of Abenomics, and hence the interest. A flurry of opinion pieces on Piketty’s controversial work ensued as there always is whenever there is serious talk of wealth redistribution.
[:en]Takeaways from lunch with Jim Thompson, Billion Dollar Entrepreneur[:ja]ビリオネア起業家、ジム・トンプソン氏との昼食会で学んだこと[:]
[:en] On February 5th, I organized a lunch with Jim Thompson, CEO and founder of Crown Worldwide. The lunch, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, was fully booked with twenty people in attendance. You may not have heard of Crown Worldwide, but they are one of the largest logistics, international relocation and document storage companies in the world. You probably have seen their trucks, present in many cities around the globe. They bright red sporting a yellow crown.
[:en]Takeaways from my Conversation with Steve Dacus, CEO of Seiyu and Walmart Japan[:ja]西友・ウォルマートジャパンの最高経営責任者、スティーブ・デイカス氏とお会いして学んだこと[:]
[:en] My February 3rd Conversation With Steve Dacus event, jointly hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan was fully booked with over seventy people in attendance. As with all my “Conversation With…”I leave ample time for the audience to ask questions of the guest directly, and like always, this audience participated with zeal.
[:en]The Art of the Stomach and Pitfalls in Communicating with the Japanese[:ja]腹芸、そして日本人とのコミュニケーションにおける落とし穴について[:]
[:en] Haragei （腹芸）in Japanese is “the art of the stomach.” Many Japanese people have not heard of this expression, but all Japanese are surely familiar with what it represents. Haragei is the art of understanding what someone means in conversation without his or her having to say it aloud. Haragei also means conveying meaning without explicitly saying it.
[:en]If you had a magic third arrow, what would you use it on?[:ja]あなたなら、魔法の第三の矢を何に使いますか？[:]
[:en] I ask that question to CEOs I meet. All have clear targets, from relaxing of import regulations to freeing up the labor market–a full quiver. Abe’s problem is not a lack of third arrows, but a lack of a third bow to launch them. Expectations may be low, but what if Mr. Abe succeeds? Be careful what you wish for. When that third arrow finds its mark, what will be changed in your economy, not just your business. Are you ready?
[:en]The Middle-Aged Mid-Level Japanese Male Manager: The Bane of Business Leaders[:ja]日本の中年中間層男性マネージャー達：ビジネスリーダーの衰退[:]
[:en] No creativity or innovative ideas. Overly risk-averse. Fearful of change or anything new. Just going through the motions of their jobs, often working late, but more often just working slow. They’re not hungry! They are not assertive! They’re indecisive!. They’re afraid to speak up—afraid to say something with which others might disagree. Abominable at English, they wince at the mere suggestion of trying to learn. The problem is Japanese culture say some. I have encountered many such Japanese managers in Tokyo.
Japanese 
English